Typically, I just mow lawns but from time to time people ask me to add mulch to their beds. I figured there wasn't anything to it but now I have read that alot of LCO's prep the beds first. What does this entail?

Dreams To Designs

12-06-2005, 10:52 AM

Clean out and removal of weeds, cutting a clean fresh edge, then adding mulch to a depth of 2"-3". Be careful not to create any mulch volcanoes and keep the mulch away from the trunks of trees and shrubs, a few inches, to prevent rot, insect and rodent damage.

Kirk

turfcobob

12-08-2005, 09:53 AM

Beds, prep, edging and refreshing are a service by themselves. If you are going to get into it you, get informed and get the right equipment. Beds can make you some real money if you treat it right. But if you start out doing it just to be a good guy for your customer.....YOU LOOSE...They will want a free service and you will be a bad guy in the end...Make it clear to your customers that it is an added service, get the right equipment and do it right.

Green-Pro

12-08-2005, 10:04 AM

Typically, I just mow lawns but from time to time people ask me to add mulch to their beds. I figured there wasn't anything to it but now I have read that alot of LCO's prep the beds first. What does this entail?

Ryan:

When they are asking you to add mulch to their plant beds this is an excellent opportunity to "upsell" the bed renovation. Our program is very similar to others on this site, in that we cut a new edge & in some cases enlarge the bed edge a bit, remove unwanted material, and add mulch.
I price it as follows Mulch $xx per yard, bed edging and material removal $xx per foot.
I carry a three ring binder in my truck with a few example photos of each service/type of work we do, when the opportunity arises I find it to be a very easy upsell to client simply wanting to freshen up mulch in plant beds after they see before & after pics. High profit margin in this as well.

Slcareco

12-09-2005, 11:34 PM

how do you price for making new beds? and extending beds?

Green-Pro

12-10-2005, 12:26 AM

how do you price for making new beds? and extending
beds?

Personally I price the prepping of a new bed by the hour, plants are priced per plant which includes picking up, arranging, adding any amendments to the soil, and actually planting. I charge for mulch and borders separately. Extending would be the same but on a monetarily smaller scale

Slcareco

12-10-2005, 01:17 AM

whats an avg hourly rate for the new bed making?

Green-Pro

12-10-2005, 08:36 AM

whats an avg hourly rate for the new bed making?
For me or you? My cost per hour is based upon the cost of running my business, ( paying Commercial liability ins., work comp ins., equipment maintenance & replacement, vehicle maintenance & replacement, health insurance, retirement, materials to complete jobs, etc., etc., etc. All this has to be paid for in addition to making enough to support my family. Get the picture? I can't tell you what you need to charge, you need to base this upon your costs and what you need to make.
I see by your profile you are 18, I would encourage you to check out these two organizations to "learn" the steps you need to take in starting a business, both are free and excellent resources:

www.sba.org

www.score.org

Lawnsite is a great source for information & help, but do more research, use all/other sources for info. The more you put into this the more you will get out of this.

LB1234

12-10-2005, 11:04 AM

[QUOTE=turfcobob]Beds, prep, edging and refreshing are a service by themselves. If you are going to get into it you, get informed and get the right equipment. QUOTE]

Just curious what the 'right' equipment is???

Shovel, pitchfork, wheelbarrel?

Green-Pro

12-10-2005, 11:35 AM

renovating beds I use a stick edger, shovel, wheelbarrow, dump trailer to haul mulch. New beds I use a stick edger, sod cutter, shovel, wheelbarrow, and again the dump trailer for hauling.
IMO there is really no right or wrong equipment to use as long as it helps accomplish the objective. The difference lies in the efficiency of the equipment you use and thereby also becomes a part of the $$ equation.

RyanD

12-11-2005, 08:50 PM

Turfcobob - just to be clear, I charge for the work. I was just curious what this term "prepping" entailed.

Green-pro - when you say remove material... do you mean leaves, weeds, etc?

Green-Pro

12-11-2005, 10:05 PM

Turfcobob - just to be clear, I charge for the work. I was just curious what this term "prepping" entailed.

Green-pro - when you say remove material... do you mean leaves, weeds, etc?

Weeds, and anything else that does not belong there. There will be occasion to remove soil/sod when cutting a new edge or enlarging the bed.

scaglawnsnj

12-12-2005, 10:57 PM

Typically, I just mow lawns but from time to time people ask me to add mulch to their beds. I figured there wasn't anything to it but now I have read that alot of LCO's prep the beds first. What does this entail?

I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR FASTER WAYS TO PREP BEDS. THE BEST RESULTS I FOUND IS TO TRIM THE WEEDS DOWN TO THE DIRT, THEN JUST SIMPLY
TURN THE SOIL. THEN MULCH, AND GUESS WHAT THE WEEDS DON'T COME BACK TILL NEXT SEASON. BY FLIPPING THE WEEDS UNDER, THE SOIL SMOTHERS THEM...COOOL

sheshovel

12-14-2005, 12:46 PM

Yea, that might be fast alright,but next season you will have 10 times the weed problem.You are just planting weeds that way,the soil may smother them,but many many weeds will root from any small piece of plant left in the soil,and the others will be repopulating the siol with their seed.Do not turn and bury weeds to prep a beds,remove them as completely as possible.

GreenMonster

12-14-2005, 02:37 PM

Do not turn and bury weeds to prep a beds,remove them as completely as possible.

Of zap em with a shot of R/U.

For your spring bed prep, don't forget your weed pre-m, assuming of course, you're licensed to apply. You can also make a few extra bucks by adding some organic compost to existing plaints within the bed. People up here just love anything that is "organic". payup Believe it or not, there was a guy around here advertising organic firewood a few years back. WTF is that?!?!:dizzy:

oh yeah, and of course, nix the weed mat :nono:

mcwlandscaping

12-14-2005, 03:22 PM

This is a very good thread, it answered alot of questions that i had. Even though i never posted them.

sheshovel

12-17-2005, 01:20 PM

Of zap em with a shot of R/U.

For your spring bed prep, don't forget your weed pre-m, assuming of course, you're licensed to apply. You can also make a few extra bucks by adding some organic compost to existing plaints within the bed. People up here just love anything that is "organic". payup Believe it or not, there was a guy around here advertising organic firewood a few years back. WTF is that?!?!:dizzy:

oh yeah, and of course, nix the weed mat :nono:

Whats the point of adding Organic matter if you just drenched the soil with chemicals?Do a little hand pulling the soil will thank you for it.It won't kill ya either to get your hands dirty once in awhile!

GreenMonster

12-17-2005, 08:06 PM

Whats the point of adding Organic matter if you just drenched the soil with chemicals?Do a little hand pulling the soil will thank you for it.It won't kill ya either to get your hands dirty once in awhile!

lol, hey, gotta balance out all those chemicals, right? Spray the R/U, charge for it, apply the pre-m, charge for it, add some compost, and, yup, you guessed it... charge for it. payup Plus, my hands are still clean enough to pick my nose on the way to the next job :)

macaw

12-18-2005, 09:20 AM

I started using the MulchPro made by http://www.grassrootstechnology.com/
it hooks on to the end of your trimmer. It fluffs up the old mulch makes it a lot easer to get weeds out than apply pre-m and top dress with mulch you will use less mulch than I sale them what I call mulch maintenance about once every two weeks or once a mouth I run the MulchPro over the beds makes for some nice extra money.